Cleveland-class cruiser

USS Cleveland (CL-55)
Class overview
Name:	Cleveland class cruiser
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	St. Louis-class cruiser Atlanta-class cruiser
Succeeded by:	Fargo-class cruiser
Planned:	52
Completed:	27
Cancelled:	3 (9 converted to aircraft carriers, 13 reordered)
Retired:	27
Preserved:	1 (converted to a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser)
General characteristics
Type:	light cruiser
Displacement:	11,800 tons (standard), 14,131 tons (full)
Length:	600 ft (Waterline) 600 ft (180 m), 608 ft 4 in (Overall) 608 ft 4 in (185.42 m)
Beam:	63 ft (20.2 m)
Height:	113 ft (34.5 m)
Draft:	20 ft mean (7.5 m)
Propulsion:	Four Babcock & Wilcox, 634 psi boilers Four GE geared steam turbines Four Screws 100,000 hp (75 MW)
Speed:	32.5 knots
Range:	14,500 nm @ 15 kts
Complement:	1,255 Total 70 officers 1,115 enlisted men
Armament:	Cleveland 1942: 12 Mk.16 6 inch guns(4×3) 12 5 in/38 cal gun (6×2) 12 40 mm Bofors guns (2×4, 2×2) 20 20 mm Oerlikon cannons Vicksburg 1944/1945: 12 Mk.16 6 inch guns(4×3) 12 5 in/38 cal gun (6×2) 28 40 mm Bofors guns (4×4, 6×2) 10 20 mm Oerlikon cannons
Armor:	Belt:3.25-5.00 in Deck: Two in Turrets:1.5-6.0 in Barbettes: 6.0 in Conning Tower:2.25-5.00 in
Aircraft carried:	Four
Aviation facilities:	Two catapults for seaplanes
Notes:	Dimensions in feet from Jane's American Fighting ships of the 20th Century, 1991

The U.S. Navy designed the Cleveland class of light cruisers for World War II with the goal of increased cruising range, antiaircraft armament, torpedo protection, etc., compared with earlier American cruisers.^[1]

52 light cruisers of this class were originally planned, but nine of them were completed as the light aircraft carriers of the Independence-class, and two of them were completed to a somewhat different design, with more compact superstructures and just a single smokestack. These two were called the Fargo class. Of the 27 Cleveland-class cruisers that were commissioned, one (USS Galveston) was completed as a guided missile cruiser and five were later modified as Galveston- and Providence-class guided missile cruisers. Following the naming convention at the time, all the ships completed as cruisers were named for American cities and towns.^[2]

The Cleveland-class cruisers served mainly in the Pacific Fleet during World War II, especially in the Fast Carrier Task Force, but some of them served off the coasts of Europe and Africa in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. All of these warships survived the war. Except for the USS Manchester, which remained in service until 1956, and the guided missile cruisers all of these cruisers were decommissioned by 1950, and were sold for scrapping beginning in 1959. The six that were completed as or converted into guided missile cruisers were reactivated during the 1950s and then served into the 1970s. The last of these in service, the USS Oklahoma City, was decommissioned in December 1979.

Only one Cleveland-class cruisers remains in existence. She is the guided missile cruiser Little Rock, which is a museum ship along the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York.

Ships in class

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cleveland class cruiser.

• Statistics
• Global Security.org - Cleveland class cruiser